Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 8.djvu/296

 282 FEDERAL REPORTER. �petition jr to.recover damages oceasioiled by the losa of the lives of the passengers and cxevr, of said steaiiier, and that the aggregate of the claims for said losses will gre^tly. exceed the value of petitioner's interest in said yessel. ,, �It is further alleged that a lihelin pergonam was uled in this court on the tenth day of November last against petitiouer, by Louis Hutt, as owHerof the schooner Stockbridgey tp reoover damages alleged to have been sustained by said Hutt by reason of a collision between said schooner and said steamer on the tenth day ofSeptember, 1880, which suit is now pending. �On the filing of this petitioh.a)3;(Or4er was entered that petitioner conVey. all its right, title, and, inte^e^t to whatever remained of said steamer, her engines, boiier, machinjery, tackle; bqats, apparel, and fnrniture, and freight pending at the time pf the loss of said steamer, to a trustee named in said' ^rder, for the use and benefit of any and aH persoBB having any daims against said steamer, or said company as the owner thereof. Aind it haviilg been subsequently reported to the court that such conveyance had b«en duly made, a monition was by order of the court issued against all persons claiming any damage against said steamer, or the owaers tliereof, for any loss, destruction, or injury, citing them to appear and make due proof of ,their claims, etc. �On or befo:e the return-day of this monjtion, a large number pf claimants appeared specially, "not submitting to the jurisdiction of the court, but protesting against the same solely for the purpose of objecting to, the jurisdiction,of the court," and, excepted to the suffi- ciency of the petition, and to the jurisdiction of the court in the premises. These exceptions, which are twelve in number, resolve themselves practically into two questions : �(1) Can the liability of the owner of the steamer be limited, under the law, to any loss or damage, except that occurring on the last voyage, or the voyage jn which the steamer was lost? (2) Doea the petition show sutHcient facts to clothe this court with jurisdiction to appprtion the value of the owner's inter- est among the several persons who suffered damage on the voyage in which the steamer was sunk ? �As to this first question, it was conceded on the argument that the steamer was during the season of 1880, up to the time of her loss, engaged in running regular daily trips or voyages between the ports of Chicago and Grand Haven, on Lake Miehigan, and that the col- lision between the steamer and the schooner Stockbridge occurred on a trip over a month prior to the commencement of the trip in which the steamer foundered and sunk. ��� �